Low dimensional structures having quantum confinement of one to three dimensions, such as quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum boxes, have attracted much attention not only for their potential in uncovering new phenomena in solid-state physics, but also for their potential device applications. The reason for this attention is based on the extremely high electron mobilities of the structures themselves and the high performance of devices, such as lasers and modulators, incorporating these structures. This enhanced electron carrier mobility is further achieved by engineering the sub or mini-bands of the structure so that the longitudinal-optical (LO), or surface-optical (SO) phonon transitions are nullified. Examples of such structures are described in articles, such as, "Quantum wire Superlattices and Coupled Box Arrays: A Novel Method to Suppress Optical Phonon Scattering in Semiconductors," Sakaki, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 28, No. 2, Pages L314-L316, February, 1989; "Optical Anisotropy in a Quantum-Well-Wire Array with Two-Dimensional Quantum Confinement," Tsuchiya et al, Physical Review Letters, Vol. 62, Number 4, pages 466-469, January, 1989; and "Electron-Optical-Phonon Interaction In Single and Double Heterostructures," Mori et al, Physical Review B, Volume 40, Number 9, pages 6175-6188, September, 1989.
As was predicted in Sakaki and demonstrated by Ismail et al at the 1988 International Symposium on GaAs and Related Compounds, Atlanta, Ga., September, 1988, breaks in the density of states of quantum structures lead to negative differential conductance and negative transconductance in field effect transistor (FET) configurations. Examples of such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,622, entitled, "Negative Transconductance Device", and issued to Capasso et al on Nov. 3, 1987 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,707, entitled, "Semiconductor Devices", and issued to Davies et al on Feb. 24, 1987, both of which are incorporated herein by reference hereto. The Capasso et al device is a three-terminal resonant-tunneling structure based on resonant tunneling of a two-dimensional electron gas which is gated into a one-dimensional quantum wire to produce a negative transconductance. Quantum wire arrays have also been considered as potential low-current-threshold semiconductor lasers as reported in Tsuchiya et al. The devices described thus far, however, only provide a minimal variation of conductance, even though far greater variations have been predicted by authors such as H. Kromer in Physical Review 109, page 1856 (1958). Therefore, in addition to the relatively commonly described negative differential conductivity in semiconductors, a more pronounced reversal of a current relative to an electrical field is also realizable. This more pronounced effect, termed negative absolute conductance, was first predicted by H. Kromer. Since 1958, this effect has been further developed and observed experimentally by G. C. Dousmanis, Physical Review Letters 1, Vol. 55 (1958) and by E. M. Gershenzon et al, Ukr. Fiz. Zh 9, page 948 (1964). If negative absolute conductance was obtainable in low dimensional quantum structures, then the performance of semiconductor devices utilizing such structures would be greatly enhanced. The present invention addresses such a device.